integral process of the research this data is as much real data as the conversations with my
primary informants (NESH, 2016, p. 10).
Gaining Access
As a result of my limited Burmese skills, all of my informants can communicate with a decent
level of English. Some better than others, but still without notable struggles that made it
possible to have a natural and flowing conversation. This means, however, that my field site,
as well as geographically limited to Yangon, is limited to persons with decent English skills.
As mentioned earlier, I am not able to represent those I cannot communicate with as primary
informants, but rather through secondary information and interpretations. During my
fieldwork, I never gained access to one particular group of people, or as first planned,
particular street or stores that specialize in cellphones. As my interest initially was the
technology of the smartphone itself and how these were used, main streets or stores felt like
the right place to start. Both my language limitation and their lack of interest in me hanging
out with them made this extremely challenging, and I soon realized that I needed to think in
alternative ways to gain access. The new strategy was to actively search for people of interest
in bars, cafés, through other people I had met on different occasions and attended different
activities, events, and walks. This strategy was more successful as I became acquainted with
several people from different parts of Yangon with different backgrounds.
A genuine interest for the meeting between technology, people, and society was the
foundation for this fieldwork, as I had already written my bachelor essay on communication
through social media. It was therefore natural that I would meet other people with a similar
interest in technology and social media, and that conversation would be more naturally
connected to my work rather than with other people I would meet. Halfway through the
fieldwork, I rented a desk in an open space office to work more efficiently. This desk was, not
by coincidence, rented out by a company working with start-ups in the technology sector.
This position gave me an insight into what was evolving in Yangon and furthermore, easier
access and information on different events and people. As a result of my interests, how and
where I met people that I connected with, most of my informants have a particular interest in
technology, smartphones and or social media, and therefore they would often have more
extensive knowledge regarding the topic than most people in Yangon.
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